Microsoft Says You're Wrong and Stupid

Microsoft thinks that after Windows 7 debuts that people will change their perceptions of Windows Vista.

"I think people will look back on Vista after the Windows 7 release and realize that there were actually a bunch of good things there," [Steve] Guggenheimer said in a recent interview. "So it'll actually be interesting to see in two years what the perception is of Vista."

I'd fire that guy right on the spot. Who is he kidding? This is someone who has absolutely no clue about how the public's perception of a brand or a product work. Millions of people aren't suddenly going to change their minds that Vista wasn't a complete debacle, especially if Windows 7 is a better product. People just aren't wired that way. The only thing that would cause people to look back fondly at their good old Windows Vista days is if Windows 7 is a complete piece of crap. And for Microsoft's sake, let's hope that that's not the case.

Take Apple, for example. Perceptions of Apple are just starting to come back around to overwhelming positive after a decade of mismanagement and crappy products that began in the late '80s. The Mac still has a stigma that it's an overpriced computer, even though that hasn't been true for almost five years. And just last week I had to answer, yet again, the question "but what if I have to send files to someone on a PC? Does it run Microsoft Office?" For those who are wondering - Office files have worked seamlessly across platforms since at least 1998. It took almost a full generation for Apple's momentum to swing around. They've always had their rabid and loyal fan base, just like most companies who make products do. But we're talking about the general public.

But that makes my point. People, much less a complete society, just aren't going to all suddenly change their mind about something that is part of the zeitgeist. Richard Nixon was a pretty damn good president and did a lot of great things, but no one thinks about that. Think about Nixon and you think about scandal and corruption and shame. A couple of decades haven't even changed that perception.

Microsoft is kidding itself.

via Channel Web